View the logo design and my interview here: Windward Technology Featured Logo

After doing a bit of research, I’ve come to the conclusion that GoDaddy is the culprit. Not 100% certain if it’s their MySQL database or over burdened servers…but at this point I don’t care enough to investigate any further. Don’t get me wrong, I love GoDaddy. They have great customer support, their prices are unbeatable and with the exception of this WordPress issue, I haven’t had one problem with them in 3+ years. But the time has come to grow up and move on into web hosting “adulthood”.

I’ve been contemplating moving to Media Temple for some time. And despite the mixed reviews on WordPress performance with Media Temple’s Grid Service, I’m going to give them a shot. I’ll more than likely keep my static sites with GoDaddy for the time being…eventually consolidating everything once I know I’m happy with (mt). I’m going to begin my move later this week. Wish me luck! I’ll post updates of my progress and whether or not the move resolves the issue.

The New Year has always been synonymous with new beginnings, an opportune time to make a  fresh start. This year, get motivated to push your business to the next level, and stay in front of your competitors! Do something that will last past the month of January and continue to be beneficial to the growth and prosperity of your business throughout 2011, and beyond!

Start your New Business Year off with a New Website! If your online presence is not reflecting the same quality you are trying to sell to your consumers on a day to day basis, your website is FAILING. When a consumer visits your site, they should have a grasp of who you are within the first few seconds…and they should be impressed. This isn’t an option, this is the ever evolving reality of business…and the new storefront IS the web.

Change can be challenging and intimidating. The web is a huge place, and a foreign one to most of you…don’t let that stop you from moving ahead. I do my job so you can focus on yours! Tell me who you are and what message you want to convey and I’ll handle the rest. It’s really as simple as that.

Take a look at what my clients are saying about their sites: Quotes from Clients.

Don’t start the happy dance just yet….

Enter, stage left: HTML5 and CSS3

Really? Just when I was finally feeling caught up But then again, that is the excitement and innovation that is the Web. Things are ever evolving, being perfected, taking both user and developer experiences to higher levels.

So, despite the challenge of learning yet another variation of what I already know, I am extremely excited about the coming changes. The buzz around the web, and especially in the web designer community, is that both HTML5 and CSS3 are going to be capable of some pretty amazing things. I am sure they will not disappoint.

For a lot of reasons, I plan to stay on top of ALL current and future changes to best web practices and standards. My motivation for doing this strongly comes from my commitment to providing the best service possible to my clients, complying to W3C standards, and remaining at stride (but preferably in front of) my competitors.

Needless to say, I will be adding some additional information to my knowledge arsenal come winter. I am planning on reading both, “Introducing HTML5 (Voices That Matter)” by Bruce Lawson, and “CSS3: Visual QuickStart Guide” by Jason Cranford Teague. Thus, I will be ringing in the new year with a lot of new and exciting services to offer. WooHoo!

Before: Website Screenshot

Progress: Redesign in phase one.

I am so excited to be working with Don and Missy Brown (Don Brown D.D.S.) on their website redesign project! We are currently in phase one of their redesign and I am having such a great time collaborating with them. They are truly inspirational in their love for nature and the great outdoors. I have been waiting since day one of running Revelation Concept to use nature as a website design theme. And now, FINALLY, I am getting to do just that. Don and Missy love their life in Crested Butte, CO and wanted to embrace their connection with the area and the community by integrating some beautiful photos and natural elements into their site. They are in the process of sending me some original photographs that were taken, by Don, over the course of their many adventures. The design phase is almost complete, so expect this site to be live within the next month…ideally in the next couple of weeks.

If you need a WordPress theme customized to match the aesthetic of an existing site, or would like a theme redesigned to your specifications, I can do that…YAY!

I don’t build themes from scratch.

The process that works best: you find the theme that has the functionality you NEED…pass it off to me and I will give it the design aesthetic that you WANT.

I am currently working on customizing a theme from “Elegant Themes” for a client of mine. It’s coming along splendidly…it’s beautiful. Look for it here soon!

After a brief phone call with my client I concluded the following: he wanted something that would be eye catching (of course), but he also wanted the design to be definitive of the industry…something recognizable at first glance that would instill a sense of familiarity. I immediately thought of my old Softball T’s. I pulled one out and copied the script…the client loved it. HOME RUN!

Custom logo design for a company in the sports industry.

This logo was also featured in the gallery on LogoGala! Check it out here: Logo Galla Feature.

If you’re looking for a custom logo design, contact me today! I especially love working with new companies, being there from the beginning and assisting with your brand’s identity…your literal “image” is just as important as your professional one!

Paradise Tower Suite Hard Rock, Las Vegas

1. www.SmartVegas.com – We go to Vegas a lot since it’s so fun and so close! Just booked a weekend at the Hard Rock in the Paradise Tower and saved over $200.00 with a promo code I found on this site. They have many other deals that I haven’t tried, but if you use them leave your feedback here so others can see it!
2. www.VRBO.com – “Vacation Rentals By Owner”. Not very many people know about this fantastic resource. My parents use this site to pull vacationers into their condos all the time! Drew and I booked a week long stay on the island of Oahu at a private, oceanfront home that had it’s own pool with a waterfall for only $150/night! It was fantastic.
3. www.Frommers.com – Up until recently I thought everyone knew about Frommers…but I’ve been shocked to find out that very few of our friends know what it is! Frommers provides excellent information on any vacation destination you could imagine. They have reviews for lodging, dining, activities and much more. They tell you how to splurge and how to save. You can get great information from their site, but I highly recommend heading to the book store and purchasing the guides related to your vacation destination. Drew and I took one with us to Hawaii and did at least 6 of the suggested dining and activity experiences…it MADE our trip.

Windward Logo Final Design

Just launched the new website for the San Diego based IT company, Windward Technology. In addition to completely overhauling and redesigning their existing site, I had the added pleasure of re-branding their company image! It was a wonderful project to work on and I think everyone involved is happy with the results.

Windward Technology hired me for the following tasks:

1. Logo Re-Design – They wanted something fresh, clean and modern.
2. Website Re-Design – Pulled style from new logo and kept the clean modern feel.
3. Website Build – Coded final design into XHTML/CSS with some PHP for forms.
4. Business Card Design – Kept with the design theme established by site and logo.
5. Twitter Theme Design – Again pulled from the newly established themes.
6. WordPress Blog – (IN PROGRESS) will be a part of site, same layout and design.
7. WindwardDefender – Additional graphic branding.

I have yet to add this and other recently completed projects to my portfolio…will do it soon! Some areas of this project are still ongoing, and I hope to continue working with Windward on future projects as well. Feel free to check out the site and Twitter page and leave your comments below!

Windward Site: www.MoveWindward.com

Twitter page: @WindwardTech

My wonderful husband, Drew, bought me Adobe CS4 for my birthday back in November. After about a year and a half of me “talking” about getting it, he took it upon himself to get it for me because he knows I can’t spend money without having chest pains haha. I waited until after the new year to install it and start playing around with it’s infinite greatness because I knew it would consume my life. Well, it’s been a couple of months and I feel very comfortable with it and love it more and more each day! I’m very excited for all of you, my clients, because this software blows the ceiling off of what we can do together for your branding, graphic and web design!

Drew also passed word to his mom that I needed new accounting software…and again, he knew I would keep putting it off. So on top of the wonderful new design software, my mother-in-law got me QuickBooks! If you haven’t received one already, invoices now have a new design and layout…and my life feels very organized!

I’m also doing more marketing for Revelation Concept this year, when I have time to work on it. But despite the busy work schedule I will always make time for YOU first. Thanks everyone for your support and your business, I enjoy working with all of you so very much…because of you “work” doesn’t feel like work

Adobe CS4 Design Premium

Quickbooks-Pro 2010